Fat side up or down?

[pwoller]

Doing a shoulder for pulled pork. Does it matter if the fat is up or down?

 

[beer-b-q]

I say up...

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Depends on your smoker and preferences.

Fat side up will self bast the butt in it's own fat drippings to help retain natural moisture.

Fat side down will help protect the meat during temp spikes if you have any problems with that during the smoke. I think alot of folks use fat down with charcoal fired drums and bullets, just in case.

Eric

 

[pwoller]

I thought I read to put it up to keep the meat moist. Thanks.

 

[danbury]

I do fat side up for most of the smoke then fat side down the last few hours to put the heat to. (UDS pit)

 

[mballi3011]

I'm an on top kind of guy here. Let it baste the meat as it melt and I'm sticking with it.

 

[bigsteve]

I have tried up, down, and trimming the fat cap off. They all came out the same. I use a water smoker, so everything stays nice and moist anyway. So I trim the fat now.

If you have an off-set or drum, maybe it would make a difference (??)

 

[buckeye024]

I do it up...